When the ability to compare shop online sprang up, it changed the retail business forever. Most retail companies had to adjust everything they were doing and market and promote in new ways.
Now, there is another big change that has affected the industry that is demanding new strategies - and that is the growing number of Web sites that reveal the coming big deals that retailers are going to offer. The result is that competitors know how to respond to loss leaders way before they are even offered to the public.
It's causing all sorts of uproars this Christmas season as retailers are jockeying for position and playing a game of chess with one another in response to these new realities.
With all the uproar it's really impossible to know if some companies are 
secretly letting out leaks to get huge exposure. For example, Wal-Mart is now known to be the first company to offer 42-inch high-def TV for under $1,000. That is really big news! They are getting a lot of coverage, and we don't know if it was leaked or someone at a print business let it out.
The thing to understand is that the Internet can give and the Internet can take away. Instead of worrying about leaks and trying to control a situation that can't be controlled, Wal-Mart again has taken a smart path; they've announced that it would add new bargains on its Web site on Thanksgiving Day - basically undermining efforts to get the information out before the sales.
This is a way that the Internet is a double-edged sword. A company can fight back through the strengths that the Internet has to offer by being able to do something any time without anyone having any prior knowledge of it. This is a case in point. Not only is Wal-Mart getting free exposure, but has also been given the opportunity to let people know that on Thanksgiving Day there will be more discounts they can look forward to. Welcome to the new retail.
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